Shoreline
by TENNIS-w-GUITARS
Summary: With her lover gone Makino raises her son alone. As time passes more additions to the family are made, but she has known, you see. From the very beginning she's known. Her boy is going to leave too, just like Shanks. So, often- often, still- she ventures off to her secret shoreline and watches the bubbling salty water kiss the land; watches the sea reach for her.
1. Sweet Nothings:::

**Summary:** Time passes, like it always does, and it doesn't wait for anybody; including Shanks. With her lover gone, Makino raises her son on her own. With time, more additions to the family come, but she's known, you see. From the beginning she's known her boy would leave too.

*******These** are a collection of drabbles, and one-shots, not a story chapter thing format. So, they jump around, usually skipping years. Just warning you:)**

A/N::: I like to think that Makino's a strong barkeep woman who doesn't take crap from anybody- but only the other hand, her kind nature and occasional fragile phases are so rare that you almost choke on their sweetness. She's complex and hard to grasp- I hope I did her justice.

**Shoreline**

_**Chapter 1 Sweet Nothings:::**_

Her belly swelled passed her feet.

Her hand rubbing circles around the unborn child, she hummed sweet nothings and lullabies concocted from mother's thoughts and wishes, to her eight month old swollen belly. Her toes sunk into the sand, her long wavy dark green hair flying with the wind, making this woman look angelic and beautiful. For some reason, whenever anything revolving the man she loved was brought up, she became a goddess. Naturally pale skinned, her skin glows now in the shade of palm trees. Her eyes, that rival the suns brightness, stare into the endless horizon of blue cast in front of her.

He loves the ocean, loves the thrill the adventurous life and the codes of piracy and manhood. She admires them, but does not hold the same strong desire to do such things as he does. She likes land, likes the sun and the earth's smell: of dirt, life and prosperity of a home to her. Earth is land- earth is home.

She never pitied people on the sea, though, only envied them. She wishes she could love that life, but she does not. Sinking her bare feet further into the sand and inhaling deeper, she hopes her child the best of lives, the best of loves.

Shanks is never here. In fact, he doesn't yet know he has a son. He never will, either. Makino's decided not to tell him, even if he does come back. She's heard the rumors, the stories. She knows Shanks is a good, honest man, but the government that controls everyone has disliked anything having to do with him and they have the power to destroy her and more importantly, her unborn son. So, she'll never tell him. Not that he can't keep a secret, but... Better not to risk speaking some words out loud.

Makino knows it's a boy, she can feel it. She feels his strength growing in her and soon he'll see the world. She won't lie; she's a little frightened. Raising a child on her own will be scary, but she'll do better then just "manage"- she'll make it wonderful. The boy will hear about his father everyday, but she doubts she'll ever tell him his name, at least not till he's old enough to understand.

Should Shanks return soon... She'll lie. She doesn't believe in lying, but just this once, she will. Because Makino loves Shanks. Loves him more then almost everything. _Almost._ This child, who will arrive very soon, she already loves more. Maybe it's maternal instinct but she will always protect the child, even if that's from Shanks' reputation.

The waves are crashing harder then ever as Makino stares into the deep blue sea Shanks calls home. Burying her toes even further into the sand, her home, Makino knows she loves all, but hates the separating blues. Inhaling the smell of Shanks: sand and seawater, she turns to make the trek back through the jungle and the crowded town back to her bar.

On the way there, she remembers to whisper her sweet nothings again to her child, this time a wish for her child, a plead;

"Please, please, please, sweetie, don't have red hair."


	2. Life's Begin:::

**_Life's Begin:::_**

Her child was born in the middle of the night. The moon that shinned through the window illuminated the room, and the town Mayor let Makino squeeze his hand to smithereens during labor. The child screamed for life, a sweet but harsh squealing melody that made Makino wince a little. The pain from labor didn't stop her from reaching out and cradling her baby boy in her arms.

He had a dab of bright, bright, crayon red hair on his head. She started to cry and she hated that the boy would have to wear hats for years before she'd dye it dark green to match her own.

The crying calmed, but continued as the baby opened his eyes- thank kami they were hers. His eyes were brown, but they seemed better, prettier, then his mothers. The purple tint that was present in Makino's eyes seemed to dominate his; a boy with bright red hair and purple eyes. The baby's eyes wandered around the room and Makino smiled momentarily forgetting the dilemma of red haired children. She cooed and smiled at her baby boy. Snuggling closer to the infant, she ignored doctors calls to rest, or the town Mayor smiling down at her with tears in his eyes.

This little baby might not stay, she knew. He would grow up to a ripe age and then set off to sea. In his eyes, even only minutes after birth, she could see it. He may have her eyes, purple and wide, but the mischief, the adventure spreading through his irises was much too like his fathers to stay in this plain town. Tears streaked down, painting sorrow across the mothers face, but she smiled anyways. He was here now; her little boy was here now.

The doctor asked what the child's name is. Makino looked up, sweaty, tired and confused. A name? She hadn't thought of one. Her mind reeled; well she had thought of some, but she never came to a conclusion- the birth was early by two weeks.

She suddenly remembers a boy with freckles that was executed only weeks before she found out she was pregnant. The boy who became a polite man under her teachings, regardless of his father's name. The man that died nine months ago. Her heart clenches at the memory of little Ace and the man he became, then of his little brother Luffy; but she smiles down at her child. She wouldn't name him after Ace- Well, not really.

"Spade Tsuki"

Her voice was even and purposeful, much like a mother's would be.

She made up the last name on the spot, taking the moon's spotlight outside the window next to her as a blessing.

Makino's son stopped crying at the sound of her voice and began peering up at her with bleary, new eyes. She smiled down at him even more broadly.

"Spade."

A small grin broke out on the fresh, new baby boys face and she truly knows he'll leave. He'll go out and see the world like his father, but right now she has him.

Makino knows just how strong her little Spade is already; she can see it, plus she knew all along- since he began growing in her belly.

It wasn't a false smile that graced Makino's face, not a smile to hide the pain. Remember? Makino rarely lies.

It was a smile of acceptance and appreciation.

Makino had a beautiful little boy in her arms, with crayon red hair and a steady heart beat.

It resounded in the quiet room as the nurses and the town major give her a moment in private, that melodic rhythm.

Such a beautiful sound; what a beautiful song. Her favorite song, she decides.

_-ba thump, ba thump, ba thump-_

The moon shined down on a woman with wavy, dirty seaweed hair that protectively cradled a baby with red-hair in her arms.

_Red hair..._

Such a peculiar sight: the mother was smiling so happily, but crying so sadly. Like she was saying goodbye.

* * *

**A/N::: Just a heads up, this story will start jumping time. Oh, and i also probably won't update for a little while :) But no worries! It won't be any longer then a week, then again i might just not do my homework and work on this instead! :P**

**Oh and also, i'll be switching tenses around between chapters so... Watch out for that :)**


	3. Grains of Sand:::

**Chapter 3 Grains of Sand:::**

If there was one thing Makino grew to have more after giving birth to Spade, it was pride.

Pride in being a mother, a single mother at that, but a mother nonetheless. Pride in being bar owner and just herself, and pride in her son.

So when she hears Spade's screaming cries in the middle of the night she doesn't think of how nice it would be to have a man around to take half the responsibility of having a child. Or when she has to clean up after Spade, she doesn't dream of not having him. Never.

So, whenever people like the Mayor, or even Daddan (after a lot of beer) offer to watch Spade for a while so she can relax, she reverts to being slightly, almost unnoticeably, defensive.

She is happy dammit.

Sure, there are times where she dreams that in another far off world Shanks and her are taking care of their child together. That there is no such thing as a mean, ruthless government or strong people with grudges. Hell, in that far off world sometimes Spade, Shanks and her are the only people in it. In that world they do things together, as a family. They go to the beach, they take care of the bar, and they play in the backyard on blissful, clear skied days.

And in that world, Shanks' love for the sea is not there.

When that fact passes through her radar of understanding, well... That is were the dreams ends. That is always the point in her dream where she wakes up.

Makino wakes up from that far off dream, panting and sweating to the sound of Spades wails not ten feet from her in his crib.

She woke up because of the screams, but also because sometimes her dreams are too far off to even be dreams anymore.

Getting up from bed, she shuffles across the icy wooden floor, and pads her feet to Spade's side.

Her nightgown offers her no protection from the chilly breeze filtering in through the open window.

"Hmm, maybe a storm is coming", Makino thinks absentmindedly.

The curtains billow with the wind looking graceful as she picks up Spade and hushes him, calming him down.

She sings him an old pirate song that Shanks and the boys always sang on the most joyous of gatherings. Spade calms very quickly to her voice, but she does not stop her song as he sleeps in her arms.

Makino is half awake, exhausted to the point of collapsing, but she somehow makes it to the armchair by her window. She pulls a warm, fuzzy blanket over Spade and herself, and looks out to the docks with the merchant ships rocking on the glittering night ocean. The wind blows, warmer then before and she persist with her song. Makino did not know, but as she dozed off her voice continued to carry through the night and out of the open window. Her soft words echoed loudly and wove through the streets to the sea into the early morning. Her baby cradled in her arms, the sea waves crashed louder then before; as if responding to the traveling song being sung by a bothersome land dweller.

_"Going to deliver Bink's Sake_

_Today and tomorrow,_

_our dreams through the night_

_Waving our goodbyes,_

_we'll never meet again_

_But don't look so down,_

_For at night the moon will rise again"_

The next day, as the sky stormed and the wind blew, Makino went to her special seashore. She gave in to the Mayors pleads and let him watch over Spade for a while as she "relaxed' by the beach (she knew the mayor meant sleep as relaxation, but... for once, she wanted to see that special view of the sea). The sun couldn't reach her as she walked through the tick jungle to reach her shore, and when she arrived at her beach she found it was because the clouds were blocking the sun's rays. Her beautiful, vibrant shore was painted in a dull, blue gray. The waves crashed louder and Makino grabbed bundles of her dress and decided to go in to the sea for once. At least, up until the end of the shore, not to deep; never too deep. Fisted pieces of her dress are hiked up above her knees, her pale skinny legs brighter against the dark brown dress fabric, her seaweed green hair rapidly following the winds path.

The seawater touches her feet and she remembers another stormy day, cooped up in bed with a big man and a big arm draped over her body. The wind harshly hitting the glass, rain pattering on the window next to them, and her loud moans into the day and night; time slipped away, became unimportant with him in her. She remembered his deep purrs, like an animal and his grunts of approval, she remembers it all.

The seawater pulls away from her cold toes, and the memory follows.

Makino loves her small shoreline, but she backs away from it then. It seems all the shore brings her is memories, and as the tears threaten to fall, Makino trips and lands backwards on her bum in the sand. The sand isn't welcoming and warm like it once was whenever Shanks and her use to come here: its hard, slick and damply freezing underneath her fingers and thin linen cloth. The waves crash in front of her, regardless of their disturbance in her life, and once again Makino envies sea dwellers, but she knows can not become one. The waves crash farther and come closer to her, and they pool around her hands and body, shallow of three inches. The tide pulls at her, and she wonders if it wants to swallow her- to take her away. She digs her feet into the fleeting sand, hands grasping patches of the grain beneath her. No. The water is not tropic warm like usual, its cold and unwelcoming. Parts of the sand she was gripping at filters away through the tiny gaps in her fingers, retreating with the tide, leaving from her hands. Leaving her hands behind, empty and cold, grasping at nothing.

Something deep in her makes her want to hum so she does. But the hums turn into a string of words and the lyrics assault her memories again and she lets the tears fall into the sea water that surrounds her. The ocean recedes from her again, taking her salty tears with them- they'll fit in won't they? Salty liquids and all. Her dark green hair's tips begin to stick to her back from the water.

Makino continually sings her traveling song, letting the sea carry it to whoever's listening. Makino briefly wonders, in a dangerous way for her heart, if maybe a red headed pirate would hear her.

_"Going to deliver Bink's Sake_

_Today and tomorrow,_

_our dreams through the night_

_Waving our goodbyes,_

_we'll never meet again_

_But don't look so down,_

_For at night the moon will rise again"_

Makino has a sinking feeling inside her as she sits cold and numb, grasping at grainy sand that always, always, leaves, that the red headed pirate will not hear her -the land dweller's- song of adventure.

* * *

**A/N::: **Okay, believe me, it will start getting less depressing soon. It'll still have a hint of sadness to it, but not as sad as this chapter. Sorry it took so long for me to update! I kept on revising this chapter sooo many times, its insane. I finally got it to be the way i wanted it to be. Sorry i took so long :( Chapter four will be up very soon though, i just need to read through it a couple more times! Seriously, it will be up very soon!


	4. Linger:::

**Chapter 4 Linger:::**

Spade now knows words. He knows "Momma", "Sea", "Sake", and "You".

Always, it seems he says "You" in such an accusing tone. It's directed to random villagers too, who know, but keep quiet about his heritage. He points his tiny two and a half-year-old finger at strangers while glaring and hollers very loudly: "you!" Spade never quite finishes his sentence after that but the villagers quiver in their boots at the fearsome red head. He's meant for greatness, that boy.

Makino is not as amused. She always picks him up and dishes out apologies to the strangers, but what she doesn't see is that Spade glares at them from behind her shoulder; from behind or inside her seaweed hair purply eyes look at them accusingly. The strangers always see him from behind his blinds and run away from the confused mother and devil child. As do the children of those adults, then after some time, the entire village. The red headed boy with a black beanie and a glaring face yes, yes, quiver in fear.

Makino can understand why Spade knows the words "you", "Sake" and "momma", but "Sea"? She has never taught him the word or mentioned it before- it hurt to much. So how?

She's putting on his favorite beanie when he dashes out of her reach and out into the town market. Spade always does this now a days, always the rebellious two year old. Was it strange that he went through the stage so early? Makino doesn't falter, and dashes out of the ghost town bar her establishment has become and chases him around the town, through the market, and the jungle until she catches up to him.

He found his way to her secret cove.

It's hidden from the village, and its small with a tiny private beach complimented by beautiful plants surrounding it. It has the cleanest of sands, the purest of salt waters. It's beautiful. It's her beach, her private coveted sea. Well, not _just _hers. She has't been here since that day a year ago, her "relaxing" getaway. It's much brighter now, a sunnier day that did the beach justice with it's bright view.

Her sons voice is loud and confident with his back to her.

"Sea." He says.

She freezes and is about to ask him where he learned that word or how he found this place, "he's only two!" she exclaims internally and makes her way to him when the water brushes against her toes making her stop alongside him. It's the lightest of touches- feathery- almost like coaxing pet that she dimly remembers from a thick, scarred skinned hand. The water is warm today, Makino thinks. It takes her back, though. It's more then enough to take her back.

_**"What are you doing here, my mermaid?"**_

_Shanks stands in the jungle clearing, right at the entrance of Makino's secret cove, staring at her stark naked in the ocean. The one day she affords a break he comes and finds her. Makino flushes pink and tosses from her position in order to cover her parts. She can hear Shanks laughing at her attempts- he's already seen everything. Makino never heard the_ "my_ mermaid" in his sentence. Not till much later._

_**"Makino, dearest how ever did you find this place?"**_

_After forcing him to turn his back to her, Makino gets dressed quickly. Except, Shanks peaks and smiles to himself at the damp, pale skin he sees. He asks her that and her only reply was that when she was a teenager, she went on an adventure. It was the first and last adventure she had, but she found this beautiful secret place she often comes to as a means of escape. Shanks only smiles and wonders since she found such a beautiful place, why not adventure more to find even more pretty places? With him? He doesn't ask her this though, because she turns around and leaps back into the water. She wears only her undergarment when she calls to him, feeling courageous, "Come on in Shanks, the waters great!" Shanks bites down his argument of the water _always_ being great, however at his view: a pale girl, with wet wavy hair clinging to her curvy hips, his argument is forgotten all together as he rushes in to join her._**  
**

_**"Hello, Seaweed girl! Lets go to our cove!"**_

_Shanks only hand grips her hip and guides her away from her route to the bar. He gives her this look like 'the chores can wait' and they disappear into the jungles clearings, to their cove. Makino makes at face at her nicknames. They are always slightly insulting, and whatever happened to 'mermaid girl'? When they are deep enough into the jungle and hidden completely by the trees, Shanks leans down and kisses her lips, hard. Makino has dreamed of this so many times that when it happens, she isn't surprised. After a few minutes of hot and heavy kisses, Shanks leans back to smile at her, catch his breath, and come back to his new home on her light pink lips. It was like she was giving him air; like the common tale of mermaids saving drowning sailors whose air had left them the deeper they fell in the bottomless blues. She grows slightly worried at his harsh kisses and wonders what Shanks is drowning in. But then he leaves her lips and kisses her neck fervently, leaving a blazing trail on her milky flesh, and Makino realizes that it is her gasping for air._

_**"Makino, I love you"**_

_She doesn't remember a time without that pirate of a man. Makino does not recall a day where her head wasn't filled with him, where heavy footsteps didn't remind her of him. Shanks chases her through the jungle to their cove, always they go to their cove when he visits, and when the tress dart in their path, they swiftly move around them- this is her home, she knows her way around . His constant chin stubble scratches against her soft chin and face, and checks, and neck, and she loves it. It scratches in the best of ways, and later when they go back to the bar before opening, as they lie in bed with candle wicks flickering around them; it scratches in the best of places. In the middle of their passion, after deciding to not open the bar tonight (his crew can wait till tomorrow, he can't Shanks reasoned), Shanks says heavenly words that send Makino spiraling. Toes clenching, back arching, she does not return the words to him._

_**"I've found you, my darling!"**_

_Sometimes, when she misses Shanks dearly, she goes to their secret cove alone She sits on the surf in her flattering once piece (or sometimes, in her birthday suit) and thinks of the man who must be on a ship that rocks on the waves before her, somewhere. Then, suddenly, she feels a hand encase her hips, sliding over her tummy. She hears a gruff whisper in her ear, feels a path __of hot sweet kisses on her neck and she knows he really does love her. Her overanalyzing has gotten her nowhere- his chin stubble, his smile, his eyes- they scream_ true._ They tickle each other in the sand, in the most innocent of ways, and they lay there in the sand, the setting sun their natural light. Shanks asks her if she wants to swim with him in the sea. Makino knows better then to accept or openly decline, so she distracts him with promises of the bar closing early- of alone time together. Shanks barely notices, while staring at Makino's pink lips and bright purple eyes, that she did not reply to his previous offer of spending time in the sea._

_**"I love you too, Shanks."**_

_This is the last thing she recalls ever saying to him. It was in the dead of night with the curtains drawn and Shanks snoring loudly next to her in bed. The candles are dying out and she holds her breath after saying the words. The sheets rustle next to her, and though she's known she's loved him for a long time, and she's been wanting to say it, she doesn't exactly want him to know that she loves him tremendously. But he does because he turns around to face her, in all his naked glory, and flashes the biggest wolfish grin at her that she's ever seen from him. She blushes under his intense gaze, and the candle flickers out. He moves on her, then in her, and towards the end of it all, after their once calmed down heart and clean skin becomes stricken and sheen again, he whispers in her ear: "I know."_

_**"..."**  
_

_____Their last goodbye, that Makino did not know would be their last, was a silent exchange equipped with an unknowing blissful smile and a lying gaze. The sea cove they always came back too, where he found her all alone once, where he asked her of life and love and books and everything else in between and beyond, was not returned to until eight months later, after Ace's end, that time alone (kind of). Their secret cove, where he confessed his love, where he chased after her heart, and where she gave it too him still lived and breathed the sea and them; the combination of the two people- sea and land, bubbly liquid and sand shores._

_She gave him her heart so willingly._

_So fully. He knew though, that he wouldn't be back in a very long time. Makino believed so fervently that he would be back with her soon, though._

_**"Makino"**_ Shanks says.

His voice echoes in her brain, and in her tummy and every place in her body, almost like he's calling to her.

Makino doesn't realize that she's been staring at the sea for many minutes now. Spade is tugging on her dress that has gone into the water with her, now wet with sea water from the hem up to her knees. Makino was walking in, further and deeper in the water as the memories assaulted her. She looked as if she was in a trance and only when her son tugged hard enough, yelled loud enough, did it break.

"Momma!"

Snapping back to look down at her son, she notices that he looks very worried. She regains herself and grabs his hand, and whispers very quietly,

"I love this cove, sweetie. Its our secret sea now, and every sea needs a name! What should we call it, Spade?" Makino says this to disract her sons fear and to silently put her own at bay.

Spade looks confused, but excited at the prospect of a secret special place for only the two of them.

Now, Spade only knows a few words.

"Sake Sea!"

Makino quirks her brow at the name, but smiles down at him and lifts him into her arms and she makes her way to the sandy beach. Somehow, it feels like the sea is trying to tug Spade back to its depths with ever with-drawl of tide, but Makino trudges up the shore regardless of the pull of the waves. "Not yet" Makino whispers in a quiet voice, that even her son who is steadied in her arms can not hear.

"Sake Sea it is." Makino says, smiling with an unrecognizable ghosting in her light pink lips.

Makino comes back the next day with Spade in one arm and beach swimming gear in the other. He's only two, but he's a natural. He's a quick learner too, learning to swim in only a few weeks. Soon he's three and as a birthday present, Makino closes the bar and goes to the beach with him, before going back home for a surprise party delivered by a few town members, the Mayor included.

On his birthday, Spade gets a big chocolate cake for breakfeast. Then, the two head down to their Sake Sea. He plunges into the water with his floaty secured around his tummy. He likes the shark inner tube so, he uses that to sit, or lay in when he's not swimming around the ocean freely.

Makino sits and watches his red hair bob on the ocean waves. She often only watches when they come to their secret cove because whenever she touches the water there, and only there, she gets a flash flood of memories that tickle her brain and send her heart through a meat grinder. She will always love Shanks, but she is not fond of the painful reminders lately. Today is no different; Makino's pale milky skinned shape is seen lounging lazily in the shaded portion of the small beach. One day the memories will be a blessing, not a curse. Not such a tantalizing curse. Makino tries to push the memories away, but watching her son's red hair shinning with the sun, she thinks of Shanks anyway.

**_"I love you"_** she fears his words will always be an echo. An echo that will always (and does so right now) resound through her heart. Those heavenly words spoken by Shanks are recalled in the light that bounces off her three-year-old's red hair, in the new blood that flows through Spade's fresh tangled veins.

Makino never did find out how Spade learned the word "Sea".**  
**

* * *

**A/N:::** Have you ever had the problem where you re-read your story a bunch of times then say "alright i can post this" then after you post it you re-read it in all it's official glory and see all the easy, completely obvious mistakes you made. Then you wish you could just re-do the whole damn thing? So, I'm not being mean here- just saying- yes i do see i spelled that, or this wrong. Sorry!(in advance&for the past)

Chapter five is being difficult, but i might get it out in a week or so. Oh, and by the way, someone asked me **about Shanks**, and... i don't want to tell you! And... Well.. He will be around _at some point_ but the story is wayyy more centered around Makino and her son. Another reminder: this is a drabble/oneshot-y kind of fic stringed together as a full/shortish story. Also, i said this previously, but be prepared i will be skipping time soon!


	5. Reasoning:::

**Chapter 5 Reasoning:::**

Her wavy, moss colored hair pools around her, in a pretty way she herself never recognizes. His sinewy skin is exposed by his lazily buttoned shirt and cropped pants. His sandals are kicked off to the side somewhere in the sand below them. The hammock that carries the two sways with the gentle sea breeze that passes through the island.

He has his arm cradling her head, a pillow that's almost too firm, yet just right for her. His fingers run though her hair, playing with stray curly strands. His feet and legs are tangles with hers, and she presses her freezing feet against his calves.

"Makino!" He exclaims in surprise at her temperature and the sudden cold on his legs, like a slab of ice touching his warm skin. Makino smiles evilly, placing her freezing hands on his exposed chest. He cringes in discomfort, but she shifts at one point so that she is lying on top of him. Her smiles up at her, and pulls her lips down to meet his. They welcome her home, all soft and firm, and they kiss blissfully. He bites her lip playfully and she bites back. He can practically feel the tug on his lips from her and he growls while she heaves a quiet breathy moan. He squirms under Makino and she smiles into his lips.

Suddenly, he's tracing her spine through her thin shirt and she is blushing. Seaweed girl is blushing _so badly_ he teases in his head. Makino pulls back, smiling and catching her breath. She is about to lean in again when the hammock swings and their weight is shifted in such a way that they flop over the side. They topple into the hard yet soft sand below them. His big protective hand catches her head as they flip over and drop, cushioning her fall. Sand finds a home in her thick curls, and he is about to get up off of her when he realizes just where he is: on top of her. He smirks and gazes down at her underneath him.

"Shanks?" She questions. The sunrise makes her look even more beautiful, Shanks thinks in his head. Her purple brown eyes stare into his, and he can't get over her beauty. Her seaweed hair fans out around her, the green standing out against the white surf of sand. He notices her cute little beauty mark on her shoulder becuase her shirt has slipped down just slightly. He sees her lips stick to her teeth as she catches her breath; as if she can't breath in his presence and he loves that he can effect her in that way; Take away her breath, steal it, and hoard it like the pirate he is.

_He has missed this; he has missed her._

Something tugs at his self-conscious at that thought, that he misses her, before he lowers his face down to hers. With her eyelids fluttering closed, he leans in to kiss her. He can almost feel her feathery, soft pink lips against his. He is almost able to sense her rare breath, puffing against his mouth, hot yet chilling. He can feel the rise and fall of her chest against his, _he can feel her,_ and then as he is cenimeters away from capturing her lips with his, the breathing stops.

Shanks is face first in the sand below his green hammock. The sky is bright paired with a sweltering sun above him. Shanks grumbles, but swiftly turns and looks for the woman he knows not to be there. The hammock swings behind him, vacant. The sand under his hand slips away, empty. No, Makino is not on this island. No, Makino is not here with him.

Dreams are sometimes rude, Shanks thinks with a rare frown tugging at his lips (not the way her teeth tugged though, that sensations was _marvelous)_.

It's been years since he's last seen her, but there hasn't been a day when he hasn't thought of her. Maybe the thought was fleeting or occasional like: "Makino would love this scarf", or " Makino would love this book", or "Makino would..." Anything. Fill in the blank: Makino would... Oh, well, _except_ come to sea with him. Not that he ever asked. No, he knows better. And it wasn't out of pride that he didn't invite her, nor out of fear, just the content that he knew and respected that silent decision Makino made to never join him on the blue depths.

His eyes are dry from the hang over, he thinks as his eyes prickle with nerves. There is sand in his eyes, he reasons as he lets a lonely tear fall.

The wind blows, and, in a weird way that reminds him of her, the earth is all he smells. He breaths her smell in, wondering if somewhere back in Fussha he is stealing her breath from her. Makino smells like moist dirt and fresh mint leaves. Like sweet liquor and laundry detergant. Shanks only smells the moist dirt and sweet liqour on the island (no way do his men, or rough territories in his section of the new world, smell like mint leaves and laundry.) but it reminds him of her, and his thoughts are no longer his own.

He remembers her laughter, her smile, her skin and the curve of her back as she slept under th thin sheets next to him. He recalls sensations only she could give, because even tHough he is an honorable, loyal man, temptations are temptations and after all these years he's been tempted by wider busts and blacker lusts; empty as they were, a few times he took them to sedate his desires. And after all those druken nights where he realeased pent up stress on womens willing bodies he lay awake after, as the stranger next to him sleeps. He remembers the cuvre of Makino's body, like rolling calm waves. Shanks remember her hesitation, then her silent words : **_"I love you too,_ Shanks."**

His heart thumps thinking of it now, and he gets a sinking feeling in his chest that sounds like time wasted. And as he comes to terms with it he thinks in his head:

_"I miss her."_

He grasps the sand in his palm again; trapping all the grains in his tight fisted grip- this missing her isn't healthy, he thinks, as he come to terms with it.

He stands, taking the sand with him as he stumbles his way over sand dunes to his rising crew at the eastern side of the island. His voice rings with leadership as he tells his awakening crew:

"We are going to Fuusha Island, boys!" His smile shines through, and as his crew cheers with loyalty resounding in the sea breeze, Shanks thinks of a taunting dream and a beautiful seaweed haired girl. Missing her isn't healthy? Yeah, well, he'll just have to go pay her a visit then.

Shanks ignores the nagging in the back of his mind that tells him she might not be there anymore. And if she is, there is a slight (but huge) possibility that her heart is no longer there for him to teasingly take, let alone attempt to steal. It's been four years after all. Seaweed girl might've…settled down, and had kids or something.

He dismisses the thought with a shake of his head and a swig of his rum, and the liqiud burns his throat as it slides down; his black pirate flags flies and he's off to meet his love.

* * *

**A/N::: **I just had to get this out. There may be a few corrections i didn't notice (spelling errors D:) and i'll fix them when i have time later. I'm lazy, but i'm also determined!

I am **WARNING** you all now though , it will be a while before the next update. I have finals coming up... and seriously with my grades- i need to learn/re-learn everything. UGH. My soul cries just thinking about math. Thus, I will not be seeing you for a while. Plus, (if you can believe it) my laptop broke! D; And the other computer in my house is always taken, so as i said, it will be a while. The **next update** should be around... Winter break-ish. I'll probably end up updating on chirstmas, just you wait and see! :3**  
**


	6. Somewhere, Somehow:::

**Somewhere, Somehow:::**

A fierce wind strangled Fussha with upturned dust and dirty air. It was suffocating here, really. "Nothing like a fresh sea breeze" Shanks says under the roar of wind. He walks alone. It seems the market is closed due to the bad weather. His lengthy coat, black as night, sweeps low to the graveled ground as dust clouds around his sandal clad feet. He is off to his cove first, as if to mentally prepare himself to seeing her. His feet take him there so easily; he knows this place like the back of his hand, like the dutiful swift lightness of his sword, or maybe, ("should I still be thinking like this?") like the tips of seaweed green hair touching the taunt, perfect, paleness of Makino's bare back.

The sea breeze seemed best at this shoreline, even Shanks could atone to that. His sea met with Makino's sand. It touched her shores then tucked it's self away, which in another's eyes might seem sad, but in Shanks' the sentiment was nothing but lovely. He does not know why he is stalling to see her, but he is, and damn it that's that. Maybe he is slightly nervous. Funny, one of the four emperors of the New World is nervous? Ridiculous.

Shanks' eyes adjust from damp tree leaves and bark to their trusty secret seashore. White sands that even with stormy clouds above and rapid waves ahead, look inviting. However, a small figure appears to be in the sand. The shape is green and blue, his fabric of those colors. A black, big beanie hides his hair- though this aspect of attire goes completely unnoticed by Shanks.

The Pirate approaches the boy from behind.

"Mom?"

The boy says, turning to face him, but then his feet get caught in the sand they made a home in, and his face falls in that home.

Shanks' rambunctious laughter alerts the boy that this person is indeed not his mother. The boy is about to get up when he hears a deep thud next to his fallen form.

Shanks sits next to the boy who starts rubbing at his eyes.

"Damn it, old man! I've got sand in my eyes now!"

The boy does not see, but the pirate smiles, a special twinkle awakening in his eyes. The childish tone in this young boys voice reminds him of Luffy. The waves are louder now, and it seemed the trees are singing as their branches and leaves brushed each other behind the pair sitting on the sandy shore.

"Sorry kid, you shouldn't have fallen!"

"You scared me! It's your fault!"

Shanks was taken with the kid- a string tugged at his heart- this boy was a strange one. He sort of reminded him of Luffy, but something told him that this child was different than Luffy. He almost felt like he knew the boy, somehow, from somewhere (The feeling as something he could not quite place).

"Well sorry!"

Sniffles emerged through the silent, yet loud noise of the shore. Shanks looks on at the kid, baffled.

"Are you crying!?" Shanks exclaims, about to burst in to tears from silently laughing at the poor kid. The small form shuffles up out of the sand to sit upright again, next to this peculiar man. However, when the child opens his eyes, there is an intense stinging. Like needles prickling ever millimeter of his eye, he tears up and shuts his pretty eyes.

"No!" The boy yells loudly, "I'm just trying to get the sand outta' my eyes, you dumbass!"

The young boy attempts to clean his eyes as he says. Blinking, out in to the sea, Shanks does not see the eyes, vivid in purple chestnut coloring, blinking aside him. Shanks is looking straight ahead in to the sea too- realizes as the waves growl that he must leave the island soon. It took him a long time to get all the way here, and yet he had to leave so soon. A day or two was all he allowed himself here, with her. His ship, his crew, were waiting for him at the rarely occupied coast on the other side of town.

Shanks lets out a low whistle, "You've got a mouth on you, kid. Do all kids talk like you do?"

The boy freezes in his action of clear out his eyes with rubbing hands. Sand is getting everywhere- and with sand on his hands already, the attempt to get ride of it is pointless.

"I wouldn't know." The kid mumbles out, voice thick with a child-like sadness that seemed almost eternal. Oh, no. He'd heard this tone from a young pirate before, with a fiery will. Except the young pirate he thinks of was a teenager, sitting around a fire, drinking sake with him and sharing childhood stories. Shanks' lips shadow a smile- Ace.

"What's that mean? You go to school, don't you?"

The boy does not hesitate in answering- this attention; someone talking to him without babying him- this is new! He has always craved this.

"'Course I do! I just mean... Well-"

His smooth lips jut out in a familiar pout, but just as Shanks turns to see the boys face, the expression morphs to slight anger, his lips returning to it's normal state of a slanted line. The boy stops trying to blink the sand out of his eyes and now uses a new method of hold his eyes shut, moving his eyes under his lids rapidly to try to get the sand out that way. Shanks' lips quirk at the boy with closed eyes and allows the boy to continue, the waves and trees filling the silence for them before the child speaks again.

"They don't like me very much, is all."

Shanks adopts a neutral face, one he learned from the life of piracy. Or maybe he's always had it?

"Why's that?"

"Something to do with who my dad was- is, I guess."

"How old are you, kid?"

"Stop calling me that, old man! I'm five and a half, mind you!"

Shanks' scowls, and blatantly ignores the boy's yelp of indignation. The kid seemed quite wise for a five year old.

"You can't help who your old man is, though."

The five year old pauses in thought, adapting a similar neutral expression, and once again the melody of the storm calms their minds, coaxing the silence. Shanks' view shifts to the ocean, as does the boy's- his eyes purple and wide open. The young boy thinks of his mother right then, of how she always spoke so highly of his father. So highly, with a ghosting light in her eyes, even now the kid smiles a little thinking about it. He doesn't really mind who people think his old man is, he's heard too many amazing stories to think ill of him- whoever he is. His eyes sting once more, and he begins rubbing the sand out again with his smooth, now sand cleared palms.

"Yeah, that's true. And I can't change what those mean people think, even though I don't really get why they think it. "

The old man smiles and says, "That is true, too. Besides, being the bad guy is more fun."

And now the young boy's interest peaks out to play.

"Huh? I never heard that before!"

"Well it's true, kid." The man replies with a smirk, still watching the waves lap at Makino's shore.

"But why? - AH!"

The boy yells so loud that Shanks' head snaps in his direction in alarm. The young boy's eyes are wide and bright. "I CAN SEE!" He exclaims. The boy looks familiar, Shanks' thinks. But, where...? Looking at this kid is like having a hangover after an amazing night. He wants to, but he can't pinpoint where he's seen this kid before.

Shanks laughter rings despite his confusion, their ominous conversation slowly being forgotten. This kid placed his hands in front of his view, and then tugged his hat down in reflex of his glee; it's big size practically covering his eyes and ears.

"-Hey, don't laugh, old man!" The boy scowls at the old man, out of reflex as well. He hates it when people laugh at him. Absentmindedly, his fist also clenches in preparation- this guy seems pretty old, maybe he could take him-

"Sorry, sorry! You're just too funny, kid! You're just what I needed, too." Shanks breathes a sigh of relief, his tensions and nervousness leaving him through his exhale. The child's fist unclenches as the words repeat in his head: 'You're just what I needed.' His anger snaps like a rubber band right back though.

"What I say about calling me 'kid', old man?!"

"Yeah, I don't very well know your name though, do I? What else do I call you, brat?" Shanks' laughter only increases in volume as the child flings sand at him.

"I've got a name, you know!"

" Oh yeah, and what's tha-"

"AHHH!" Shanks' laughter stops as he watches the boy scramble to his feet, dodging a handful of sand that was kicked at him.

"Hey, brat what's the matter, now?"

" I forgot!" The kid exclaimed, grabbing his black hat in his frazzled state, "I forgot!" he repeats, standing up from the shore and running to a near by sand dune. He picks up his black and red knapsack from seemingly nowhere before turning back to the stranger.

Shanks stares at the young boy, noticing for the first time the cuts and bruises on the boy's legs and knuckles. His brow crinkles in suspicion, but he says nothing.

"My mom's got two rules: Don't talk to strangers and be home by four! I even forgot the mugs mom asked me to get from Mr. Lawson's shop for-! Ahh!" The boy grasps his head again in frustration at his own mistakes.

Shanks smiles, in a calm and reassuring way that he seems to be best at, the boy notices now.

"The cups will still be there, I'm sure. Besides, what your mom doesn't know won't hurt her." The boy's eyes narrow cautiously at the mans words.

"That sounded a little suspicious, old man." Shanks filches, "Not like that, kid!"

The young boy's nose crinkles, and once again Shanks feels like he knows him from somewhere, somehow.

"I'm still late!" He cries as he scrambles to turn and leave again.

"You need to work on your memory, kid!"

The boy slows in his sprint across the sand, pausing ten feet from the trees.

" My name isn't kid, old man!" He says, his pale green capris halting with his legs in movement. He turns around and smirks at Shanks' smile.

"Yeah, well what is it, then?"

The boy's face cracks into a big, shit eating grin.

"Spade! Spade Tsuki, old man, and you'd better remember it!" Spade's eyes twinkle, and Shanks' give up on trying to find this boy's face and explanation in his memory-muddled mind. It was probably just a hazy night, better worth forgetting. Except, in this sober memory on his beach, Shanks' vows to always remember this child's name. He feels the obligation too. Shanks got sand in the kid's eyes, after all.

"My name isn't old man either, it's Shanks!" He calls, however, the crash of a loud wave and the thundering of a fallen branch made the words lost on the young boy, who smiled unknowingly, clutching his knap sack straps, and turning to leave- running off into the forest. Shanks sighs, and his black, grey eyes drag back to the sea's frame, as they are always dragged back to his home.

The storm still rages on, and Shanks wonders if the sea is more beautiful when she is gentle, or when she is angry.

Getting up a few minutes after Spade left tumbling into the jungle, Shanks wonder if Makino will be the same sort of emotional puzzle as the sea, even after all these years.

* * *

**A/N::: I am so sorry.** I said i would update sooner and it has been months since the last update- ugh! I apologize, i will try to stop it ppfrom happening again. I know you prbably don't want my excuses, so i'' just part with a: thank you for reading, still :)


	7. Fine China on a High Shelf:::

**_Fine China on a High Shelf:::_**

"Where is he?" Makino whispers out worriedly as her hands subconsciously clean a glass behind the bar. Her attention shifts to the clock, it's ticking only making her worry grow stronger with every stroke of it's hand. Spade is late. With her focus still trained on the clock, Makino puts the glass down and unties her cotton apron. She sets it down just as the door swings open. The wind rushes in, sweeping Makino's eyes away from the clock to settle on the form of a man in her doorway. No one comes to her bar on Tuesday's, and even if they do it is only ever the Mayor or her neighbor Patty (the old lady has to be the kindest cynic Makino has ever met).

This form wears a coat as black as night, and his body shape is slightly...

It feels like her breath has high-tailed out of her lungs.

Her heart clenches in a way that cannot seem bitter or sweet, or filled with heartfelt longing. No, this squeeze that pains her heart and sinks its claws into her already wounded muscle, this is fear.

She says 'no, no, no' in her head, 'not now!', she wants to scream to him.

The shadowed figure steps out from the doorway and is unveiled under the bleak lights of her bar.

" Evenin' Seaweed girl."

Makino's eyes travel from his chin stuble filled face, to his quirked smirking lips, then his nose (that often nuzzled her neck-), to his eyes that gleam and twinkle. She had forgotten that. That Shanks' grey eyes twinkled; she had forgotten Spade had acquired that mysterious gleam from his father, that this trait was not just born from himself. It seems there was more oxygen able to leave her, as her breath catches in her throat, a chilling thought tapped to her tongue 'His father-'

"Shanks-"

"It's been so long." Shanks responds as he makes his way across the wood paneling floor to the bar she stands behind.

"It has." He almost flinches at her tone. He deserves that cutting edge, he supposes. He did not tell her he would not see her for a while longer than, well... two months like what was normal considered their "normal".

"Makino-"

Her heart swells this time, because with his raspy voice the claws from fear unlatch themselves but her pride, her secrets, force the feeling away, and the talons slowly creep back into place. Resentment bubbles over. Now, this, this feeling was not something she expected. She loves Shanks. Besides he won't be here forever, his presence was always fleeting, maybe she should tell him about Spade, and the loneliness. But no. He was not there. (She didn't want him there, she _didn't_.) He was out there, his son without a father's love. (She didn't want him here, she didn't. It would have made things_ unsafe_- complicated). Shanks was not there for her either, not there to shield her or pick her up from wary glances of neighbors at the sight of Spade's hair that sent her fear into hyper drive, not there to protect Spade from those glares,_ those glares._ (It was better that Shanks wasn't there, it was _better_-)

"No. Please, Shanks no."

It was better. Because it protected Spade, it saved him. And his father being here now-

"Makino, I know I said I would be back as quick as always and I wasn't, and I'm sorry! -"

She visibly flinches.

"Please, Shanks. Go."

"I will not."

Makino looks him staring in the eyes then, unflinching this time. She looks at him, and he feels like he is melting and freezing at the same time. Her chocolate eyes, so often were lovely, now seemed so hardened. Her eyes held a story, it was on the tip of his tongue to ask and understand, but then he sees a tear fall from them and his eyes lower. In that one damn dirty tear- because that was the thing about Makino, when she cried (which was rare) her tears didn't fall like rain, like crystals, they fell like murky grains of sand, like puddles carving their way in her face. And maybe it cleansed her and that was why there was dirt. Dirt tracks from a hard days of work but with that one dirt tear, it felt like a blood tear. And Shanks stopped short. His mind went blank. His only thoughts were of self-shame and how Makino _never cries_. In that tear, he saw the real consequences. And as it fell, it felt like the earth was crashing with it.

"You said I was different than the others. That you would always come back. And yes, you're back now, but how many years has it been?" She doesn't really need to count. She knows it's been nearly six years, 5 months and 19 days since she has seen Shanks in the flesh. In a way though, she sees him everyday. In the light reflected off of Spades blazing hair, in his mysterious glinting eyes that his son dons so well.

"You are my Seaweed Girl." He breathes out in a sigh because he doesn't want to hear this. Shanks does not want to hear what his head has told him every day, what his heart stretched to touch, to touch his mind: that he broke a promise. An important one, too.

He did not think it possible, but the wounded purple brown eyes- the ones he dreamed about on beaches across the world, the orbs he saw in his minds eye while watching the sunset as he leaned against the trunk of a white palm tree- the pain in them doubles at her nickname rolling out of his mouth.

"I'm not yours."

And maybe he is a little possessive, but this hurts. He knows Makino is her own, she always was. But the way she says it leads him to think that there is another. Is there another guy? And Makino reads his cringed face like a book.

"It's been six_ years_. Shanks, you know me. You should have known. Please. _Please._ Get out." Her fingers are frantically rubbing her thumb together under the view of the bar. A nervous habit, she knows. But Makino needs to appear strong. A thought occurs to her: Spade will be home soon. This man needs to leave.

And maybe she has broken one of the strongest men in the world. Maybe his face crumbles like an avalanche and his hopes fall from a high shelf, and like polished china those hopes break so easily when they hit the ground. Shanks does not look so big in the middle of her bar anymore. In fact, the man looks small. She almost wants to hop over the bar and run to him. She almost wants to hug him and kiss him and tell him she still loves him, and that she is confused but she forgives him for all the things she never condemned him for till now, and that she doesn't _really_ resent him, she was just sad and lonely, but that it will be okay now, _he will stay._ Makino actually wants to do all those things. But she knows she can't. Because she will never make a man who belongs in the sea stay on land, because she loves Spade enough for the two of them. Makino knows her son wouldn't want his father to stay against his will anyways, and she could never bring herself to put Shanks in the position to stay where he does not belong, to cage him. And he would. Thats is the most daunting part: Shanks would stay. Makino also knows that if Shanks does stay, his trail will end here, in her and her son's home. That these tracks he leaves behind, someone will inevitably follow, leading danger to her son.

As Shanks makes his way to her from across the bar hall, she really hopes she doesn't give in. 'What is he doing!' she internally screeches. There really is only so much she can handle of this man before she succumbs to it all.

"Shan-"

"Shh"

His is in front of her then. His broad shoulders, his exposed chest- is that a new scar? Surely. Makino knows it must be; she has traced and retraced every wound in his sleep from years ago, and in her dreams now still. She knows this scar has healed nicely. Just like how this wound on his heart will. It will heal, and maybe leave behind scar, and maybe become a reminder, but this will heal.

Oh, all the things he will never know.

Because while his will heal, hers will not.

Makino's scar is constantly reopened with the hidden knowledge she guards.

Shanks smells like the sea, like alcohol, like old crackled, heated parchment and like something she can never quiet place. Something she always wanted to find out, put a name too, but never could. She use to blame time, but now she wonders if she would ever be able to label it anything other than "just a Shanks smell" if she had all the time in the world.

His lips touch hers and she misses this. There is an ache in her chest where her heart use to be because her heart has traveled up her throat with the claws still clenched. She almost throws up the truth, but then he is pulling away. His big hand, rough and calloused, slips from the top of her head (when did it get there?) to her cheek. He tilts her head up and she looks into his eyes. Big, sad and-

"I'm sorry. Truly, I am, mermaid. I'm sorry."

-Apologetic.

Makino can only stare back at him, brows trained to be narrowed still. Her mouth burns from his lips touching them and from the vile of a lie loosely stapled in her mouth.

And then he is walking away. He turns, and he becomes big again. She watches the way his shoulders bunch from a certain kind of unflinching sorrow, the way the fingers on his hand rub over his thumb repetidly with a nervous twitch in his index finger, the way his feet fall heavy on the wooden floors of her bar. The way he leaves. Makino makes a note to engrave this all. Because she did not want it, but it was had to happen.

"I know." She whispers, but Shanks steps do not falter. She wonders if he heard her at all. She wonders if it matter whether he did or didn't.

The door swings open with a push from his hand and Shanks leaves. He leaves.

Makino is left, tears trailing down her porcelain face, staring at a space that was once occupied. _He was here-_

And like porcelain, like fine china, her hope falls from her own high shelf. They shatter, the shards smaller then grains of sand, and Makino is left there to watch a scene that she knows she will never unsee.

She wishes, in a extremely selfishly twisted, strange way, that the powerful Marine soldier had not come to warn her two weeks prior of the terrible consequences that would befall Spade and her should Shanks become aware of his son.

**...**

Spade finds her staring blankly at the doorway.

A polished glass lies at her side.

He is about to apologize for being late and for breaking the rules, it's all on the tip of his tongue, and then she begins sobbing. Uncontrollably. These cries wrack her body and small frame. The five-year-old stares on in complete horror. His mother _never_ cries. A thought pounds his brain 'is this my fault? Have i worried her so much that she is crying like _this_?'

She brings her hands to her eyes and he makes a mad dash to her, setting the crate of clay mugs on the bar counter before coming to her side.

"-Mom, -mom!"

She does not even seem aware of his presence. She is looking at something that his eyes cannot follow.

"I'm sorry I'm late! I didn't mean to worry you. I'll never do it again, I swear!"

She won't stop crying.

"I promise!"

Spade never really knew what he was saying right then. That he would never worry her. In that regard, Shanks was very much like his father, breaking promises. However this was a promise he couldn't very well truly make because what mother doesn't worry about their son, in in the best of circumstances? His mother's tears doubled at his words.

"Promise?" She asks, turning her attention to his beanie clad head and panicked eyes (something that seems too new to affiliate with Shanks or her) but it sounds like she is questioning the word. What it even damn well means, and questioning someone else who is not here. But that could not be, could it? No one is here but him and her. So he says, in a hushed tone that is entirely of his own, "I promise."

* * *

**A/N::: I have no excuse. I am bowing my head and saying sorry here. I'm having a tough time at school, but i made a commitment with this story that i will keep. I will finish this story. I do not think it will be done any time soon but i will one day finish it. The most chapters i could predict this to end with would be twenty, but even then that is a lot. My deepest apologies here, guys. I hate to tell you this- but i've had this chapter done for a while, i just never had the time to fine tune it to my tastes and even now it doesn't seem to read quite right to me.**

**-Oh! and yes Spade does seem kind of advanced for his age, huh? I've never really been around kids, so i took a guess, sorry! Just consider him a super smart child :p**

**I would really appreciate some feedback on this one guys!** This chapter was hard for me to write.** But above all, thanks for reading!**


	8. A Bastard:::

_**A Bastard:::**_

His mother use to tell him stories about a pirate. At night before tucking him in, or in the early morning light as they ate pancakes and he practically drowned his breakfast in syrup. All the time, his mothers voice filled the silence with words crafting amazing tales of a man living freer than any other, out on the sea.

They were stories about a man with red hair named Shanks and how he saved people. About how Shanks never wanted to be called a hero, only humbly wanted to be known as a pirate. He could make evil bad guys pass out with one look in his eyes, and he could dodge a bullet before the shot was even fired.

Spade's mom would tell him stories about Shanks and how she loved him and that Shanks, his father, loved Spade too. So much. Spade always recalls the look in his mother eyes when she said she loved Shanks almost as much as she loved him. Almost. She always said "_almost"_ right after, and that her little man right here was the person she loved the most. Of course, Spade did not really understand, but he liked the thought of being her favorite. So he did the chores when she asked him to and one day when he was five, he came home to late only to find her crying on the floor and he entered a mode he did not know he had. Protectiveness. A sense of protectiveness with his mother that has never truly left him. Whoever harmed his mother he would forever hate, and the person who made her cry when he was five was no exception. Only, there was no one to blame. Years passed before his mother told him outright, after all his persistent questionings, that no, she would not let him blame anyone and that he should drop it. Which he did with time.

He was only eight years old when he forgot all about that blaming business from the time when he was five. It's strange to think that he was also eight years old when he almost killed someone for the first time, too.

**...**

School is so lame, Spade feels like he's going to die and no one will even notice. He could keel over right in the middle of class and the teacher would continue trying to teach how to multiply two digit numbers. Spade cradles his chin in his hand and slowly lets his worn hat fall on to the desk as he tilts his head to face the window. That is the only good part about his school. The view, and the huge windows that let him see it. This view is his classroom, he decides. That's the only reason he bothers to come anymore. That, and it would break his mom's heart should he drop out when he was only in the third grade.

In front of his purple eyes Spade sees a sparkling sea. An image so vivid on a spring day that he can practically hear the scenery in front of him. Spade can hear the waves crashing on the cliff this school resides. The seagulls are cawing for food, and he can hear the way the wind bends around those amazingly white and taunting wings. The eight-year-old can hear the sea speaking to him sometimes, too. Spade has never told anyone that before, not even his mom. Well, it's not like he would really have anyone to tell besides her, anyway.

His mother tells him, every time he leaves to their shore to read without her, that "sea" was one of his first words. He wonders how he learned it, and so does his mom. But right now he is in class, hearing things that aren't there, and the recess bell has just rung.

There is a loud sound of shuffling shoes: students rising and kids running out into the gated playground, fenced away and safe- far from the sea, in the opposite direction of this breathtaking view. Since no child is allowed to stay in class without a teacher present, Spade gets up to join them after they have all cleared out.

Walking through the halls alone, Spade thinks he is one of the only kids in this school that actually notices the size of things. The high ceilings lined with small windows. The narrow hallway leading to the gated playground, in the opposite direction of the sea. Yeah, Spade is one of the only kids that ever sees anything.

He makes a complete u-turn in the empty hall, deciding that he would much rather unlatch and hop through the window in class to watch the waves, risk getting caught and punished, than go to the playground and hover around kids who don't want him there anyway. And they _don't_ want him there- they all made that abundantly clear a long time ago. His battered and bruised body three years ago is proof of that. At least now they are wary of him- especially when he started to fight back. With his words, and his fists. That is also one of the reasons he has no friends, though.

However, this train of thought stops as Spade runs into a belly. He bounces back like a rubber ball off a wall, his butt and palms landing on the cold ground of the narrow hall.

The first thing Spade sees is sneakers.

Hastily laced, and dirty from running through mud. They are green and brown, and he instantly curses them because he recognizes them.

Kave has to be the tallest, fattest, and ugliest 3rd grader ever born to walk this planet. He has nose hair at the age of eight and a half, and some say Kave fights for fun with the adults, but Spade feels like he is the only kid around to ever truly feel them. Kave reminds Spade distinctively of a sad pig. Kave is almost as tall as their teacher and he has the biggest belly ever, but Spade still thinks that Kave is quite small in reality. It is for that reason that Spade usually tries his best to avoid him.

"You gunna' apologize for that, Spade-_kun_?" He practically squeals out, a teasing air in his voice. Let it be noted that Kave's voice is like nails on a chalkboard to Spade, and Spade's flinch is out of disgust, not fear. Spade rises from the icy ground and dusts his jean shorts off before reaching to secure his hat on his head, only realizing then that he left it in the classroom on his desk. He is about to brush past Kave to retrieve it, and escape from the hallway to look at the sea, when Kave shoves him down with his huge pudgy, and sausage-like fingers.

"You have to apologize when you've done something wrong, _rat_!" Kave practically sings. Spade has never been called a rat before. An "idiot", sure, a "useless kid" every Monday, but a "rat"? That is new. And why? Why a rat? Spade figures that Kave has just run out of names to call him. But still, Spade has become a person who can never take an insult without a fight.

"What did you call me?" He asks, his bright purple eyes flashing irritatingly.

"You can't hear now, Spade-kun? I called you a rat, because that's what you are. You, _and_ your mother-"

"What!?" Spade yells, garnering attention from the playground outside due to his volume. His booming voice creates a crowd of children and adults around the doorway.

"I-I-, you and your mommy are rats! Dirty, stupid, gutter rats! And so is your bastard of a father! And if your dad's a bastard, you know what you are?" At first Kave had lost steam, as Spade's tone scared him too. But then he gained speed and began puffing like one those special trains the government is rumored to have on the ocean. Spade looks about ready to explode. Mentioning his mother is a bad idea, and talking blatantly about his absent father, whom Spade slightly idolizes, isn't very smart either. A strange essence seems to surround him, but no detects this strange surge of power emanating from Spade. His purple eyes narrow, and somehow, when the swinging light in the hallway catches them just right two children in the back of the crowd pass out suddenly, unnoticed.

" A _bastard_, too."

People could practically hear Spade snap.

No one really saw it coming. Especially, and most of all, Kave. Later, kids say that Spade grew fangs and claws to rip Kave's face and body up the way he did. A terrifying image, really: a monster being born in a narrow hallway at school. However, the adults present knew better. Spade did not grow claws, nor did he sprout fangs. He did that scarring damage to young Kave all with his bare hands. With nails clipped to the quick by his doting mother, and with diligently flossed 8-year-old teeth. He beat a child to near death, only stopping because he was forcefully pulled off by three strong teachers.

That was the reason the adults froze for almost two minutes before stopping Spade, because this was no monster in their halls, this was a human boy.

People don not talk about the incident much after. Though the long gashes that cover Kave's body will never leave, the doctors say. The doctors also say that it is lucky the teachers stopped Spade when they did, or else Kave could have potentially died. Oh, and the emotional trauma will most likely never leave either. As such, whenever Kave stammers now, everyone excuses it.

It is funny, in a strange sort of way, that the last completely clear sentence Kave ever uttered was an insult. An insult that people, kids and adults alike, began to say behind Spade's back a few weeks later. Of course, like most unflattering nick-names, Spade did not learn about it until a few days after it was already circulated around school twice. It became a nick-name that did not go away with the changing of seasons, and in fact, became more memorable than his own name, in his own home town. It made the seasons longer, and much, much lonelier for Spade: The Bastard Boy.

**...**

Spade wonders if it will always be this way. If he will always sport cuts and bruises on his heart and body from bigger kids and adult's worried and spiteful lingering gazes. Ever since he beat up Kave, no kid ever talks to him anymore. They either steer clear of him, or glare at him from afar.

He never thought you could feel hatred so vividly until kids starting burning holes with their eyes on the back his head as he walked through the halls of school. As such, he begins to sit in the back to avoid the stares of others, but then there are the teachers. They hover around him as he works, corrects him over every mistake, and generally attempt to make an example out of the Bastard boy, the most difficult child in class- in school. What Spade does not understand is that his teachers will bug the hell out of him one minute, and then turn a blind eye, or deaf ear, as students whisper evil rumors about him loudly enough for him to hear. His mother tells him to ignore them, but sometimes, when he catches kids speaking about him with malice, he catches their eye and glares for all he's worth- that shuts them up. But only sometimes.

When they called his mother about Kave, she looked furious. Spade thought she was going to smack somebody, which seems out of place given the fact that his mother has a calm sort of strongness to her, not a blatant display of defiant strength in her eyes, as she has that day. She asked why her son hit the boy in the first place, and it was then that it became known of how Kave was bullying him, and was likely doing so at the time of the incident. Needless to say, she nearly blew a gasket.

As they were walking home that day, his small bloodied hands clutched tightly in his mothers, as she practically pulled him along, she asked him if he wanted to stop going to school. If Spade wanted to have a tutor hired to teach him general mathematics and such at the back of the bar instead. Spade's mother looked so exhausted as she offered him this alternative that he could not help but deny her.

So now he is stuck here.

In this hell, with all these kid's eyes burning his body with a fire he thought they lacked.

Looks like all they needed was to find something, or someone, to hate in order to ignite that flame in themselves.

In that regard, Spade is also different from the other kids. Because while he is short tempered, Spade does not hate easily. He doesn't even hate Kave who set this all off. In fact, in a really twisted way, Spade likes Kave. If it were not for Kave, he would not be able to escape from recess without argument now. Spade would not be able to have a front row seat to the best view of all, in the back row of his class because no kid wanted to sit next to him, and the front row was reserved for those with potential his teachers though he severely lacked. So in that aspect, Spade is thankful to Kave.

However, it is because of Kave as well that he can't help but hear the evolved whispers of what was once "the Bastard boy", to now "the bleeding Bastard". Which makes him fill silently with rage. Spade does not really understand it, but whenever people call him a bastard, he becoem furious. Maybe it's because he is no _bastard_! But he also think he gets agitated by the word for reasons he does not understand just yet.

It's around the end of third grade when Spade begins to thinks of his father who, logically, must have had red hair.

Then Spade starts thinks of pirates, and tangible freedom out on the sea. This is when a fire, so bright and so hot, begins to burn in him.

You could see it in his eyes as he watches the waves overlap each other below his classroom during the day.

To be quite fair, this flame can also be seen as slightly bitter, as it was fanned by his isolation form his peers. But he is not like his classmates or the villigers in this town: so normal and so easily scared by what they don't understand or wish to know, so comfortable in their ordinary lives that when something out-of the ordinary happens, they are put out.

Before Spade went in to the fourth grade, he had already come to a decision:

He'll get away from all these stares, so pungent and so full of hate.

Spade will _save_ people, because he could never be entirely saved himself. But he won't be hero.

No, Spade will be a pirate.

Through all this beautiful dreaming however, Spade forgot his promise. And he will realize later, that most people in his family tend to do that: forget their most important promises of all. The red-headed "bleeding Bastard" forgot that he swore never to leave his mother alone.

**...**

Makino knew that Spade would one day leave. Because he knew the word "sea" when no one ever taught him it, and he learned how to swim so quickly, and his father is who he is and_ yes_. Yes. Makino knew Spade would one day leave. His purple determined eyes, so hauntingly bright and his echoing voice, that on a random summer day, said to her: "I'm gunna' be the best pirate in the world!", just reminded her of that fact.

* * *

**A/N::: Hello one an all! I'm sorry, once again, that I did not update for so long. If it counts, I have the next few chapters planned out pretty well and I am HOPING that you all will get chapter (what is it?) 9 sometime next week. I actually know a guy named Kave who is very much like the character in this story. The ass. Anyways! **Reviews** would be nice, but I understand how hard it is to click a button and quickly write out your thoughts on a chapter. That wasn't sarcasm either. I get it; Places to go, people to see.**

** Like is said, look out for the next chapter and I am **sorry** I took soooooo long!**


	9. Tick Tock Goes the Clock:::

_**Tick-Tock Goes the Clock:::**_

One day Spade became the spitting image of his father. Even the bright purple eyes he inherited from his mother are overshadowed by the way he sits in a chair like Shanks, the way he finds all of Shanks' old haunts by coincidence, and of course, by his bright red hair. Hair that he refuses to dye green no matter how much Makino pleads. For a nine-year-old boy, Spade is quite stubborn. She supposes that he takes after her in that regard.

Makino's pale toes clutch at the packed white sand beneath her feet. It is the middle of the day and Spade is at school, even though he hates it. Ever since the incident with Kave her son does not speak very highly about school, in fact, he rarely talks of it at all. All her son has been speaking of lately is his dream. How he is going to be the best pirate there ever was in _every way_, and it is then that Makino misses Shanks the most.

She wishes that Shanks could be here to teach Spade just what the "best pirate" is, but Makino can do it herself. Besides, it is safer this way. Makino tells Spade every night she has the time off another story about what a true pirate is (i.e. another adventurous tale of his father she knows by heart). In his fathers place, Makino teaches Spade the true meaning of strength. She even teaches him a few self defense moves that she learned from Benn Beckman behind the bar when Shanks use to visit. Her son laughs and smiles so much at those times, a certain light spilling into his eyes that Makino has no heart to extinguish. Makino doesn't want to take away that brightness in him by attempting to sway his dreams and wish him to stay here openly.

When Spade's words of adventure out in the sea and world itself become too much to bear, she closes shop for the day. Only for a few hours while Spade is at school. Makino usually stocks up on a few new books to read in this free-time she occasionally gifts herself, and maybe she buys some more fabric to sew Spade some clothing.

But today, the air tastes different. It _feels_ different. And for the first _time_ since before Shanks ever came to this island, Makino wishes to go to her shoreline and _swim_.

She scurries off into the woods alone, bare feet slapping against the packed earth below her at first, and then the pure white sand of her shoreline.

Makino's long brown skirt billows in the slight breeze, nipping at her ankles. She strips it off and pulls her shirt over her head. Her hands reach and unclip her bra and she pulls down her underwear, folding and placing all her clothing on a towel she supplied in the middle of the sand. She clutches her toes again. Naked as a baby bird, Makino does something she has not done in _years_. One last tightening of her toes, and she is off; running as fast as she can with sand flying all around her, a humongous smile makes it's way onto her face before she jumps in to swim in her Sake Sea.

The water encases her form, bubbling around her mouth and wrapping her in a chilly kind of warmth. She stays underwater and watches her dark green hair swish and twirl all around her. Makino watches the sun pierces through the sea's surface and how it kisses her hair. Just like _he_ did. She swims on.

Her hand brushes a fish's gills by accident and it darts away from her, surprised by her presence. Makino's smile is blinding and huge, and she falls in love. With the way her hair shines, the way her feet sift strongly through the water, the way the fish dart away so quickly that their scales are like short, small beams of light in the ocean. She comes up for air and the drops of water on her face dry instantly. Her cheeks begin to sting from how much smiling she's done in the past_ hour_ of swimming. Makino turns herself around and lays flat on her back, uncaring to the fact that she is undoubtedly flashing her nakedness to the sun above.

The barmaid circles around in the water and lazily pushes herself near the shore, then lets the waves carry her to that shore when they catch her.

She washes up like a mermaid. Her elbows dig into the damp sand, and she cocks one of her legs up in a model-like pose. Her lips quirk again and when she looks out into the lapping sea's waves she once again realizes that this view of the sea (or any ocean's picture) will always force her to think of Shanks.

Makino's heart does not feel that same resentment bubble over when she thinks of the red-headed man. A part of her longs for him to be in the sand right next to her, sending her his signature cocky, warm grin. But then again, she has understood from the start that he could not stay, and since last year, she has accepted it. Because, well, Spade is going to be the best pirate, isn't he?

The waves reach out to grab her while she sits drying on her shore. Her purple specked, chestnut eyes watch the waves with a certain kind of intensity. The barmaid stays there for an hour just thinking about everything, before jumping into the water once more. She holds her breath and swims for as long as she can, before her lungs begin to pound on her mouth for air. Makino kicks as urgently as she can, and devours the air when she reaches the surface. She turns and looks back at what she believes will be her shore and she is not disappointed. However, she is very far away now. Watching the trees ruffle in the distance, Makino remembers a little girl, a few years younger than she, who drowned at sea.

Makino was maybe seven at the time, her parents still alive and running the bar, when a neighborhood girl drowned playing with her friends in the ocean. Makino did not particularly know the girl very well, and sadly even now her name escapes her. The little girl had bright blonde hair and warm dark drown eyes that were almost black. Apparently, they were playing in the east shore by the boats when a huge wave came in, and that little girl became lost to this world. Makino recalls her own mother's sad eyes looking down at her for the rest of that week, and her father's hesitant offering of food to the family who lost their little girl a week after the incident occurred.

Makino remembers pain painted across that mothers face as she accepted the food and apologies regarding her daughter's death and tragedy. Makino stood there and said nothing. She couldn't. She did not know what to say.

Ever since then she fell in love with land. Makino had always loved it, but now it became an urgent kind of love. The kind of love that at first held someone at a distance, then all of a sudden grabbed them and suffocated them sometimes, but never let go. And for the longest time Makino never swam. Makino's mother fell ill and passed away when Makino was eleven years old, and her father died in a beer-importing accident at the docks by the time she was fourteen.

Makino was only sixteen when she stumbled upon her cove.

The Mayor, who had taken it upon himself to check up on her every other day since her father passed away, had gotten into an argument with her. Makino does not recollect what the argument was about, just that as a way to end the discussion, she snatched her sneakers from the floor by the stairs and took off running, blinded by her rage.

As a means to avoid the Mayor, who often seemed to have eyes all over the town, Makino ran into an opening in a jungle she had never gone into previously. She stumbled and her shirt got caught and ripped along the way, but she somehow ended up somewhere beautiful. Looking up from where the earth and sand met, when the jungle parted and the chocolate dirt turned into pale white sand, Makino witnessed true beauty. The way the waves glistened, so blindingly light, Makino winced for more than a second to adjust. Her torn sleeve ruffled with the winds guidance and as a huge gust came, so did her short, chopped green hair. She could hear the birds cawing for food out on the ocean and she could hear the rustling of leaves and branches behind her. Lifting up her arms slightly and opening her hands, she let the wind slip between her fingers.

It felt like the world was singing to her.

Needless to say, she striped down to her underwear (she did not know no one was aware of the place yet and had to play it safe) and swam for hours. When she came home late that night, her hair still soaping wet and her toes tracking in sand, the Mayor raised a quizzical brow, but did not ask. He simply apologized, as did she, and Makino poured him her best sake, like always.

In the present times Makino shakes her head, hoping to rid herself of thoughts all together, before swimming back to shore. She loves this "Sake Sea" as Spade has named it, but she should probably get home before her son does in order to whip him up a snack.

Sand coats her feet as she dresses herself, but she doesn't mind it so much. She dries herself off again before carefully putting her shirt on. Makino shakes any hidden sand out of her towel and then craftily wraps her hair up. The barmaid tugs on her skirt and carries her shoes in one hand as she silently departs her Sake Sea shore.

**...**

The backdoor's familiar creaking noise greets Makino as she walks into the kitchen behind the bar. She wipes her feet on the entrance rug and shuts the door. Tugging the towel off her hair, Makino chucks it on the counter near the sink. Sand is tracked in anyways and Makino comes to the conclusion that she will have to do a "grand-sweep" cleaning today. She normally only cleans the parlor, the bar, and the kitchen at the end of the day but she supposes it is time to commence a "grand-sweep"; or basically, a "clean-the-entire-house" day. The barmaid winces with a minuscule smile as she realizes Spade will grimace when asked for assistance in this cleaning spree.

Makino makes her way to the front of the store to open shop, not that anyone really comes in on a Wednesday at 2. Yet, surprise, surprise, the Mayor is leaning against the wall next to the door. As Makino looks down at the old man she flips the "closed" sign in the window adjacent to her to "open" and with a bright, cheery smile she greets the Mayor of Fussha.

"Mayor! What a surprise to see you today! You don't usually come over during the week." Makino exclaims, now curious as to why he was here. She has a sinking feeling that he came because he found out about that harassing marine. The rude marine that comes to check up on her establishment from time to time. What the marine is really checking on though is whether or not Shanks has come back, become aware of his son, or if any pirate ever stops into her bar without being kicked out.

To Makino nowadays, every paying costumer is a welcome one. Of course, the marine does not understand that.

The Mayor slowly pushes himself off the wall before leaning on his cane and strutting in silently. 'Okay.' Makino thinks, 'he knows'. Makino sighs as she flips the "open" sign back to "closed" once again.

When the Mayor is seated at the table next to the bar, Makino leans against a barstool for support. He exhales loudly before asking, "Why didn't you tell me about that marine, Makino? Don't you know I could have helped?"

She thinks of the prominent chin that jutted out of the shadows of the marines face, how the light caught in his eyes dangerously as he sought her out during her rush hour the first time he came. How he made sure to whisper to her, so only she heard over the noise of the bar, of all the warnings regarding Spade, Shanks and pirates. Makino remembers his cruel lips turning into a grin before leaving. She remembers how power emanated from him, similar to how Shanks presence felt, and though the power was obviously much lesser, it was still threatening. 'No', she thinks, 'the Mayor wouldn't have been able to do anything at all.'

She listens to his rant, though. Makino always listens to his rants. She is one of the only people in the town that truly hears him, really. The Mayor guzzles down three cups of sake while he talks at her, her words only perceived in smiles and knowing eyes, and then Spade comes home. The Mayor grumbles a "hello brat" (in a way that shows he cares) and Spade responds in kind: "hey old man!" Of course, this sets off an argument between the two. The Mayor still seemed sore about Spade's newfound dream.

Woop Slap, or the Mayor as more commonly known, adjusts his spectacles and glares at the offending boy who glares straight back. Sighing, Makino feels like she is looking in the mirror. "Of course he'd inherit my stubbornness." Makino breathes out silently.

"Your going to get yourself killed, boy!" The Mayor's cane slams down on the wooden floor for emphasis.

Makino doesn't bother worrying, though. Woop Slap's become more irritable as time has passed. Besides, this is an episode she's seen before. Except not with her son, but with little Luffy. Makino smiles at the thought of the little Luffy who is off at sea.

The Straw-hats are wreaking havoc in the New World last she and Spade heard. And they did hear- the news feeds off of the mysteriously strong rubber man, the notorious pirate, Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is one of Spade's idols. Spade always said he wanted to one day meet Straw-Hat Luffy and his crew.

"I told you not to call me "boy", old man! And no I'm not! I already said, I'm gunna' be the best, and the best don't get killed, do they?!" Spade said, his eyes growing in their ferocity. The Mayor retorted easily.

"Of course they die! Whitebeard, Gold Rogers, even Firefist! You think you'll be an exception? You won't!"

Spade grew silent and at the reference of past pirates and Makino felt her heart pinch painfully at the mention of Ace. Oh, Ace. She had named Spade after him, right after he died. Ace was such a sweet boy and after her teachings, he was polite too. Makino's expression turns grim and she speaks up.

"Mayor, don't say that. I'm sure Spade will be the exception. If he says he is going to be the best, he will be." They seemed almost like empty words, but Makino could not really speak for Spade herself. Besides, she knew that the fire in Spade was similar to any other of the great pirates she had the privilege to meet, or hear intimate stories of. Spade was brave. He was strong. He was different- the kind of different that guaranteed adventure.

Woop Slap scowled and frowned deeply. That was the facial expression of another lecture. Turning to look at Spade, Makino saw that his face was pensive and almost far off in thought. She would give him an out, like any mother would.

"Spade, today has been decided to be a grand-sweep day. I'm leaving your room and the bathrooms upstairs for you to get started on." Her smile turned slightly cynical. She gave him an out, just not a great one. Spade blinked and looked up at her, his purple eyes clear once more, and then he nodded his head and pouted while walking away. Although not before crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at the Mayor as he walked by.

The Mayor let out an indignant "hey!" as he shaked his cane at the retreating figure of Spade, who took the stairs two steps at a time. In any place other than school, Spade was always in a hurry. He always acted like he was running out of _time_.

The Mayor turned back to Makino with scrunched up eyebrows. "Makino..." he trails off. She knows he is sorry for going to far, but she also knows that what he spoke about exceptions is true. Makino heaves a heavy sigh and says in an appeasing tone, "I know, Mayor. I know."

Turning around, she thinks off all the people she thought were exceptions to this dangerous life of pirate hood that she has met through the course of her life. She grew up in a bar after all- stories of amazing pirates never fazed her. Only their presence did.

Her indent finger rubs her thumb nervously as she thinks of another mans presence that fazed her, a man wearing the color of snow, an untainted white. Not black like the night sky, not easy brown as a dirty breeze- whiter than hope, his clothing was. And it wasn't a pirate that she was thinking of.

"I know." Makino repeated dauntingly.

**...**

Makino found Spade in a tree a few hours later. After the cleaning was finished, he mysteriously ran off.

He had a book propped up in his lap, one leg cocked up, his whole body snug and leaning into the strange, wide, hand-like, deformed branch of the tree in her backyard. The sun was setting behind him, which she knew because through the leaves and spaces left open from woven branches, the golden light shined through. It touched the tree, the whole world, and it touched Spade.

His purple eyes were warm with delight as his lips tugged up in a childish smile at what he was reading.

Years before, Shanks had sat in that tree too. "I'll just wait here!" he'd call (a rare showing of patience on his part) while she was busy working during the day. When she'd finished dealing with the shipment of beer, or the costumers in her bar, she would close shop for a break and wander to the backyard only to find him reading in his big, deformed tree.

The tree's roots and stump are gnarled and to any other person, the tree would be hideous. Its roots create the perfect opportunity for a socially fatal trip. The knobs in its stump look rough to the touch, but Shanks was the first to see it's true beauty. Makino won't lie; she never thought much of the tree until Shanks told her excitedly just how beautiful it was. She sees it now. Ever since Shanks left, the barmaid has truly sensed the ugly tree's beauty.

It's gnarled, twisted knobs were made to climb, and its roots are a labyrinth only the daring and slightly stupid can jump over.

Spade's red hair shines as the sun sneaks a chance to pet her son with it's rays.

There is this fluttering inside her, almost like a fishes tail swishing in the thick waters in surprise.

And for the first time, Makino truly accepts Spades choice. Her eyes are little sad as she looks at her baby boy. Well, they always leave at some point, don't they? At least, the great ones do. Only the great.

But, well... For now, "Spade, come on down! As a reward for cleaning so well, I say we have some steak for dinner!" Spade's eyes snap down to look at his mother, so far underneath him. He's got such a great view up there. Something stops him from asking his mother to join him, to witness this view though.

Instead, Spade grins and asks loudly, "what's for dessert?", as he marks his spot in his book and jumps down from his high perch. Makino holds her breath as he does so, but he lands right between two bumpy roots perfectly. She heaves a quiet sigh.

" I was thinking maybe some chocolate chips straight from the bag! Mr. Lawson brought them over this morning. How's that sound?"

Spade frowns, "I think we should have something more... special. I worked real hard, y'know?" Makino sticks her hand in between the red hairs on his head and scratches his scalp a little as he joins her side. Spade enjoyed strange things, and have his head scratched was one of them. Makino makes a face.

"Oh! I know! How about some ice-cream?" She waggles her eyebrows at the suggestion, but Spade does not see. He is sprinting into the house, happy as any kid can be. Makino smiles at the normalcy, until he calls back, " I think I should sample that before the steak, ma'!"

"What?!" she exclaims, and as she hears the tumbling sound from inside, Makino deducts that is Spade trying to reach the ice cream on the highest shelf of the fridge.

"Wait, Spade, no!" She runs in after her boy, and she feels it: that happiness in her that never really left. Her breath catches, her lips sticking to her teeth from smiling and laughing so hard when she comes upon Spade. He is rubbing his bumped head and sticking his other hand into the ice-cream container. His mouth is smothered in delectable chocolate ice cream, and a winning grin is tugging at his lips.

This is her son. And he would _always_ be her son. She snatches a paper towel and wipes at his face while scolding him.

The sun sets, no different than the day before. But somehow the light catches that ugly tree just right while Makino and Spade eat together at the bar (Spade, more like stuffed his face). Since the day Shanks hopped down from the ugly tree, Makino thinks, regarding ugly things, that in this world there is beauty in just about everything.

Even beauty in the time she constantly feels is running out.

* * *

**A/N::: Hello everybody! I know that this chapter was a little .. Eh, but it needed to be done. Now you have a little insight on Makino, a tiny backstory on her family, and things like that- just to put it all in perspective!**

** Did you know the Mayors name was Woop Slap? I didn't! Also, i just wanted to say that my spelling of Fussha might change in between chapter but only because i feel like it changes every time i look it up! Sometimes its Fuusha, sometimes its Fussha! It's hard for me to keep track, sorry!**

**Next chapter will (hopefully) be considered more exciting than this one, as a **new (important) character** will be introduced! I hope you guys are as excited as i am! **


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